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Soft Serve Cone/Story
Fondness Story I.World Demolition It was the best of times-- Humans had bested the elves and created a new world where they ruled. It was the worst of times-- Fallen angels, bad guys born from the curses of elves, kept invading human settlements. “--And you food souls,” With an air of self-satisfaction, Westminster went on and on, talking about things I didn’t really understand while he struck a match. “See, you guys are like the flame. While we humans are the friction on the match, in the end, you guys are the lit fuse.” He turned to face me, the prancing, flickering flame in his hand putting a crafty smile on his face, eyes brightly lit. “Little Cone, are you afraid?” “What’s there to be afraid of! Go on! Toss it in to see what happens!” I didn’t want to listen to his boring and cryptic philosophies and pestered him to toss the match in the fuse notch of the experiment. “Hahaha, you’re so like me!” He let go. The burning match fell into the notch and the fuse instantly lit, its flame racing into the inner workings of the experiment. Sparks flew, and Westminster grabbed my hand, pulling me to duck away. A huge explosion resounded, followed by Westminster’s excited chatter. “--And so, let’s blow this world up.” Alas, moments later. “Ah… Another failure!” I picked through the debris of the experiment for the thing we were refining for, to no avail. “Don’t get too down, failure is but another step to success.” Westminster comforted me. “This… Alright, how are you able to convince me every time?” “Because I’m a genius, best scientist in the world.” “Say that all you want… You’re just a student… Crap! Let’s run, someone triggered the ice trap I put by the entrance! It must be the warehouse guard!” “What? Isn’t today the open house? Shouldn’t that guy be having a blast at the idol performance?” Westminster was shoved forward by me, his shock not impeding his complaints. “Who knows, let’s get out first!” “Party pooper… I’ve already come up with the next experiment too… Coney, I’ll definitely become a professor here in the future and build my very own lab here! Nobody will disturb me then!” “Alright alright, you’ll definitely get it! As long as you don’t get caught sneaking into a warehouse and kicked out of school today!” I collected the moisture in the air to form a snowflake, making our escape on it through the skylight as always. The sparrows sleeping on a cedar tree outside were startled awake and jostled about with chirps and screeches, followed by the angered complaints of the tardy security guard. Westminster and I shared a smile. --This was the most interesting experience I had at the magic academy. II. Life Creation To me, I was quite lucky. Because the first person to summon me was an interesting guy. He was Westminster, and he often proclaimed himself the “number one science prodigy” to me. Though in reality, this was just something he said. In the Academy, Westminster wasn’t on particularly good terms with the other students. He said that prodigies have always been alone since time immemorial as nobody understood them, so he didn’t bother with the common folk. That was why, even though it was the celebrated open house when all the students were having fun with their families, friends and other visitors, I was the only one by his side. “Hey, Westminster, since we can’t continue the experiments, where should we go?” “Where do you want to go?” “Hmm… We could take a look at the fallen angel weapons display? Or the master attendant appliances display?” “Those are all plagiarized off my work, what’s there to see?” “Then… the puppet show?” “That time would be better spent researching how to make puppets move by themselves.” “...Then what do you want?” “It’s getting late, let’s go back to the dorms.” “...Hey! Westminster!” “What?” I turned around somewhat angrily to see him innocently grinning at me. We were flying above the school, wind whooshing past our faces. “It’s my birthday!” “What did you say, the wind’s too loud!” He played dumb, and I got ready to shake the snowflake under us-- “Hey hey hey, alright alright, I heard it!” He laughed out loud. “I remember! How could I forget your birthday? I’m going back to the dorms to get the tent and warm clothes I prepared--” Like a conductor, he pointed elegantly towards the snowy peaks looming over the academy grounds. “Then we’ll go there, how about it? We’ll get to see lots of stars.” “Woah! Let’s go!” This was why I was happy to be with him; he made every new day unlike any that came before. My birthday’s easy to remember, it’s the annual Academy open house. It’s been so many years. Back then, Westminster wasn’t so arrogant as to go against the proceedings. He, like the other students, was assigned a task-- To create something new that will be on display in the exhibition, that will be promoted and advertised to visitors from around the world. Teachers and students alike were worried over what sort of “hazard” Westminster would create, but he went against his usual antics. He didn’t create anything like the music box that could wake a dormant fallen angel, nor the perfume that could revert a food soul into an uncontrollable younger form. Using cream made from a base of water from the Lake of Ice Tears, he created ice cream that wouldn’t melt. He then baked a thin omelet till it was hard and crispy, which he placed the ice cream into-- --That’s right, that’s the food I’m based on: the soft serve cone. The day of the open house, the soft serve cone that was very convenient and didn’t create waste was well received and praised by the guests. Westminster managed to sell cart after cart of it. Unable to keep up with its popularity with the visitors, Westminster received a permit from the Academy for large-scale extraction of water from the Lake of Ice Tears. He then extracted and collected the inedible magic crystal components of the water in secret. The last day of the open house, Westminster somehow sneaked into the vault of the old enchantment furnace behind the main hall, and using ice cream infused with magic crystal energies, he summoned me. “Hey, Little Cone. I’m Westminster. Welcome to the world of Tierra.” He stood before me, face covered with machine oil, yet his eyes shone bright. III. Remember the Stars Atop the snowy peaks. I sat in the tent with Westminster, stars circling the sky above us, and I saw in them his eyes when we first met. I never could find an apt comparison, but it suddenly came to me that night, under the stars. “Are these stars your birthday gift to me?” “Stars are the universe’s reply to stargazers. And you, are the universe’s reply to me.” I blushed. “Sounds nice and all, but if you can’t take it, you can’t keep it.” Westminster opened his eyes and reached out his right hand, grabbing nothing but air. “We’ll come more in the future, you’ll remember them after looking at them more.” “There are so many stars, there’s no way I can remember them all.” “How will you know if you don’t try?” Some things are only proven to be impossible when you try. “Westminster, are we going to the mountains tonight?” “Not tonight, there’s an assignment I have to do.” “Westminster, can we go stargazing? Even the school observatory is fine.” “Sorry, I have to record experiment data tonight… I might have to stay in the warehouse late into the night.” … Slowly, I understood-- Change is the law of the universe, people and stars both change, new interests, new goals, new lights at the end of the tunnel. Nothing stayed the same forever. Not excluding Westminster and me. Not long after the trip to the snowy peaks, one day, Westminster and I sneaked into the warehouse through the skylight again. This was our secret base; besides having to avoid the security guard and covering up our traces as those of stray cats and birds, many successful experiments went on here. But this time, we had an unexpected encounter. He seemed to be a teacher or a higher member of the Academy staff. “Crap, what if he’s forced to drop out…” As Westminster was taken away, I had uneasy thoughts. If Westminster had to quit, would I have to as well? Would the outside world be more interesting than here? But I was wrong. After a long chat with the person, Westminster returned with the happiest expression he’s ever had. “Haha, didn’t I tell you, I’m a genius!” He showed me the key in his hand. “Coney, I’ve got my own lab from now on!” Seeing him so ecstatic, I felt oddly worried. IV. Promise of Reunion From then on, it was as if Westminster became a different person. He was very, very busy, often falling asleep in the warehouse, going days and nights without food or water, mumbling to himself in front of various strange devices and data. “Empty shell, empty shell.” Often did I find him chanting to himself repeatedly. Westminster told me that the mysterious man offered him limitless riches and power for him to research the creation of food souls and life itself. And empty shells were what he couldn’t wrap his head around. Westminster always said that empty shells were food souls with practically no soul power, and their existence proved that food souls were more than soul-powered weapons created by humans, that food souls were preexisting beings. Then, what power does the human’s imagination hold that is able to summon us unknown life-forms? As he got more and more engrossed in the topic, he said that behind all of this hid the secrets and origins of the world and soul power. In the beginning, I was still able to understand what he was talking about. Later on, the lab’s security got tighter and tighter. Finally, one day, as I was flying in through the skylight, I was blocked by a strange, invisible barrier. That day, only when it turned to night did Westminster trudge out of the warehouse, exhausted. His eyes were bloodshot, his unshaven face making him seem decades older. It was as if the warehouse was a man-eating demon, having consumed all of his life force. He faced me, an apologetic look in his eyes. “Sorry, Coney, my experiments are dangerous, so I can’t let you into the lab from now on.” “I wasn’t coming to disturb you, I just…” I lowered my head, doing my best to hold in the sadness-- I just wanted to tell you, it was the day of the open house. Have you forgotten my birthday too? I didn’t want to cry. I’ve never cried. The ice from the Lake of Ice Tears will never melt, and having inherited its properties, how could I ever cry? “Coney…” Suddenly, my hand was grasped. “Come with me.” I followed Westminster dazedly. We didn’t follow the usual path, instead, he brought me into the majestic main hall and after making a few turns, we somehow came to a secret passageway. “In here, we won’t be found by anyone. Shh, don’t tell anyone either.” He brought me into the warehouse. It was completely different from when I was created; filled with strange, rotating devices, it had become a real lab. Still holding my hand, Westminster led me into the depths of the lab and handed me something that looked like a telescope. “Look.” “At what? The kaleidoscope?” “Even better” Withholding my disbelief, I looked into the telescope. --To see a skyline out of this world, with the brightest stars I’ve seen. It was the same sky we saw that night on the snowy peaks, stars in neverending rotation; there were two particularly eye-catching ones, swimming in irregular orbits. “Happy birthday.” I heard Westminster’s voice. Averting my sight, I saw his forced smile, an uneasy premonition settling over me. “See those two stars?” Westminster patted my head, the coarseness of his hand unfitting of a young man. “I might have to leave this place.” “Remember, when those two stars come together… I’ll be back.” V. Soft Serve Cone Nevras is home to the best academy of all of Tierra, the Academy of Magic. It is the genius’ cradle, one of whom being Soft Serve Cone’s master attendant. He was the youngest professor in the academy and had his own laboratory, and with the support of a mysterious investor, he researched food souls in utmost secrecy. Due to the high security of the research, for a long time, Soft Serve Cone was separated from her master attendant and was unable to see him. Later, for the next stage of his research, Westminster left the academy for a long-term study, declining Soft Serve Cone’s request to go with him. And so, Soft Serve Cone stayed behind at the academy, and entrusted by Westminster and his investor, she lived fruitfully and was allowed to take part in the various classes the academy offered. Like a human student, she studied everything she found interesting. Time flew by, until that year, that open house. A bored Soft Serve Cone picked up the kaleidoscope on a whim, to see the two stars suddenly come together. Her heart beat fast as she dashed to the warehouse-turned-secret-lab. Passing through the secret passageway, opening the door, she saw the absent professor. “Is that… you?” Soft Serve Cone hesitated. The figure of the person before her had changed far too much. “Long time no see, Little Cone. Now… will you create a new world with me?” Category:Food Soul Story